Cashew Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

This rich and creamy, low-glycemic Cashew Chocolate Cherry Smoothie is every bit as indulgent as a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates.

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and with it, those tempting heart-shaped boxes filled with sweet and gooey chocolates. I get boxes and boxes of chocolates delivered to my front door. Why? I don’t know. People must love me.

This Valentine’s Day, I’m going to do things differently. No more digging into those chocolate boxes. Instead, I decided to make a delicious, healthy, smoothie that combines some of my favorite things.

What Will I Put in this Healthy Smoothie?

Cherries, yes, they’re good! Dark, sweet cherries are my favorite low-glycemic treat.

Packed with nutrients, cherries are shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. 1 cup of raw pitted cherries has 97 calories, 2 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber. One cup also provides a ton of vitamin C — 18% of the Daily Value (DV), plus 10% of potassium and 5% each of copper and manganese.

Yes. Cocoa. Cocoa is a great antioxidant. Dark chocolate is good for you — in moderation, of course — and it can improve your mood. A 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 70 to 80% cocoa content has 11 grams of fiber, 67% of the daily recommended intake for iron, and lots of other minerals like magnesium, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium.

To keep the calorie and fat content low, I will use cocoa powder for this smoothie. Keep in mind that one ounce of unsweetened cocoa powder has just 64 calories compared to dark chocolate at 160 calories per ounce. This is because the cocoa powder has far less cocoa butter and less fat content.

What else?

The secret to a great smoothie is the liquid base — soy milk, your favorite nut milk, yogurt or kefir, or juice. The delicious creaminess of my Cashew Cherry Chocolate Smoothie comes from, you guessed it, the wonderful cashews used in chocolate cashew milk. Cashews are rich in nutrients — 28 grams of unroasted, unsalted cashews provides about 5 grams of protein, 1 gram fiber, and minerals like phosphorus, selenium, Thiamine, vitamin K, and vitamin B6. Raw cashews, like most nuts, are also full of calories — 158 calories per ounce (28.4 grams).

A little tang. While three ingredients are great —Cherry, Chocolate and Cashews — four are better. To perfect this recipe, I added a dollop of low-sugar, low fat greek yogurt. It’s delicious!

Let’s Get This Valentine’s Party Started

I want you guys to do exactly what I’m doing this February: Stay away from the chocolate boxes and let’s make a smoothie together. This recipe is quick, it’s easy, and you’ll feel so good you’ll be doing cartwheels after you drink it! (Well, maybe not, but it does taste great.)

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